Biography

Brenda D. Taylor is an inspirational speaker, a writer, an educator, an entrepreneur, a survivor and an advocate. Formerly a public and private sector educational leader, Brenda also has a professional background in corporate sales that spans several industries, including manufacturing, security, and education. She firmly believes that education is the catalyst for change and that relational capacity is the medium for growth.

Growing up in the roughest neighborhoods of Chicago and battling a troubled home life, Brenda learned early on how to be resilient, steadfast, and persistent in the face of adversity. Brenda earned a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Southern Illinois University—Carbondale and a M.A. in Educational Leadership from Governors State University. She is a certified secondary science teacher and K-12 district administrator with a special interest in areas of STEM/STEAM and ensuring positive post-secondary outcomes for all students. Brenda is also a certified neurolinguistic programming practitioner and believes in the individual ability we all have to take control of our minds and thus our lives. 

Beauty for Ashes, Brenda’s memoir, was published by her company, Liberated Expression, to tell her story of survival. Brenda has also published The Big Surprise, a children’s book that she wrote when she was 9 years old. Additionally, Brenda has been featured in You Can't Be What You Can't See, written by Milbrey McLaughlin, with the foreword by former U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, and the afterword by Greg Darnieder, a former senior advisor at the Department of Education. Brenda has been interviewed by and featured in a number of television/radio shows and magazines, including Vanity Fair Italy. 

Brenda enjoys genuine connections with genuine people and believes in the power of vulnerability. In her spare time, she enjoys spending quality time with family and friends, writing, reading, and enjoying nature.